Forty Candles
by Shadow Katt
Summary: It's Professor Snape's birthday and he doesn't think anyone will remember. Lucky for him his intern has read Hogwarts: A History thoroughly and he gets his birthday wish.


Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Harry Potter or his world and characters. It's just for fun. Enjoy the fic.

The nights at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were cold and lonely, or at least that was the opinion of Severus Snape, Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House. Severus crossed the stone floor of his chambers to a small pedestal table that was situated beneath a brightly burning torch. He stopped in front of the table and reached for a heavy green glass bottle that was resting on it. He picked it up and examined the deep burgundy colour of the wine inside of it. He grabbed a stemmed glass and pulled the cork off the wine bottle with a _pop_ and began to tilt it.

_Something a little stronger, perhaps?_

Snape looked down at the wine bottle, suspended in a slight angle, red wine inside of it sloshing around. He pulled the green bottle upright again and corked it. He rested the stemmed glass back on the table with a small _clink_ and picked up the clear bottle next to it. He looked at the label as he unscrewed the cap and smiled to himself. Nineteen sixty was quite a good year for firewhiskey. Nineteen sixty was quite a good year for many things. He tilted the bottle so the honey coloured liquid poured into a small glass.

Firewhiskey in hand, Severus Snape crossed the room once more, this time stopping in front of his window that looked down onto the grounds and the Quidditch Pitch. Snow was falling heavily in the frigid, February night. His window sill was buried in the white stuff, making it impossible to open the window if he were to get an owl.

_Who would want to send you an owl?_

Snape snickered to himself and took a large sip from his glass. Indeed, who would want to send him an owl? He had waited all day for one, but no owls had come for him. No owls came for him any other day, why would today be any different….

He turned from the window and headed for his desk. There was a stack of essays from his third year Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff class that needed grading. Just like last night there was a stack of sixth year Gryffindor/Slytherin essays. Tomorrow night there would be a stack of fifth year Slytherin/Ravenclaw essays.

"Proper Uses of Fluxweed, by Joanna Macmillan, Hufflepuff, Third Year," Snape read aloud to his empty chambers. "Well, Miss Macmillan, let's see what you've got for me." He could feel the firewhiskey at work already, he could feel it loosening the knots in his insides, making him more relaxed as he read over the essay.

"Well I'm very sorry, Miss Macmillan, but Fluxweed is not used for Restorative Draughts," Snape said, picking up a handsome green quill and dipping it in red ink. "That will be an F and ten points from Hufflepuff."

Severus rolled up the parchment and put it to the side. He took a long swig of firewhiskey and set the glass back down, looking up at the window. Fat snow flakes fluttered past the window. The chiming of his grandfather clock interrupted his thoughts, telling him it was eight o'clock.

_Knock knock._

Snape whipped his head around to his chamber door. He felt a greasy strand lightly bump against his nose and he brushed it away. Who could possibly want to see him at eight o'clock on a Thursday night? He took another drink from his glass as whoever was on the other side of the door knocked again. Severus slowly got up from his desk, firewhiskey still in hand and strolled towards the door. They knocked for a third time.

"Bloody hell, I'm coming," he spat angrily. He tore open the door roughly determined to give whomever it was his trademark glare. "Just what do you think….." He trailed off, his eyes resting on the person who was knocking. "Minerva, what can I do for you?" He said, filling his voice with false kindness.

Professor McGonagall surveyed him over her square frame spectacles and tightened her mouth. "Severus, I have two of your students upstairs," she said sternly. "I'd like you to sit in with me whilst I lecture them."

"What have they done, Minerva?" Severus asked, taking yet another sip from his glass.

"I caught them attempting to feed Argus's cat Shrinking Solution. On top of that, these two particular students are failing Transfiguration, it's customary for the head of their house to…"

"I'm aware of my duties as head of their house, Minerva," Snape cut her off, speaking bitterly. "Lead the way."

He shut his chamber door, his hand still firmly grasping his glass of firewhiskey. "Which students of mine…..?"

"Jennifer Goyle and Alice Parkinson," McGonagall said, striding beside him, her heels clicking on the flagstone floor.

'_How typical_,' Severus thought to himself. Both girls had older siblings who had a knack for getting into trouble as well. He glanced to his side at McGonagall who was staring straight ahead as they ascended a staircase.

_She's known you for twenty-nine years…._

Severus stared angrily at the hallway ahead. It was true, Minerva McGonagall had known him for twenty-nine years and she forgot…just like everyone else.

"I just need to stop by the staffroom, I left my cloak in there earlier," McGonagall said, heading for the big green door on the third floor in which 'Staffroom' was painted in gold.

She reached for the door handle and stopped, looking up at him. "After you, Severus," she said, smiling thinly.

Snape glared at her and jerked open the staffroom door with his free hand, grumbling rather loudly.

"_Surprise!_" came a chorus of voices.

His glass in his right hand fell to the stone floor and shattered. Snape looked around wildly at the staffroom full of smiling faces. Flitwick had his wand pointed at a green and silver birthday cake, charming the candles to sparkle and burn blue. Dumbledore sat at the head of the table, smiling happily. Professor Sprout stood next to an enormous pile of presents wrapped in every colour. And his intern, Hermione Granger, beamed at him from near the doorway.

Severus felt a smile creep across his face and quickly turned it into a scowl. "What the bloody hell is this rubbish?" he demanded.

"Happy Birthday, Severus!" Dumbledore said kindly from his seat.

"Happy….Birthday….?" Snape stuttered.

"Yes, Severus, you didn't think we would forget your fortieth birthday did you?" Minerva said with a smile from the doorway.

"Students…Parkinson….Goyle…." the Potions teacher mumbled.

"Oh Severus, Miss Parkinson and Miss Goyle are fine," Minerva chuckled.

"Happy Birthday, Professor," Hermione said, strolling over to him as the others began chatting among themselves.

"Severus you can thank Miss Granger for planning the whole thing," Dumbledore smiled, his blue eyes twinkling.

"Granger?" Severus growled, staring at her.

Hermione smiled sweetly, but didn't say a word.

"Well come on then, Pr'fessor," Hagrid's booming voice called. "Blow out yer candles!"

"Candles…." Snape said, turning towards the tiny Professor Flitwick. He walked over to the table and looked down on the cake with the blue sparkling candles. The icing was glittering sea green and the words "Happy Birthday Severus" were spelled in metallic silver.

"Don't ferget ta make a wish!" Hagrid called, issuing agreement from the rest of the staff.

A wish….. What does a Potions Master wish for? Snape looked around the staffroom, everyone was beaming at him. He glanced to the side at Hermione Granger who was standing next to his shattered glass. He remembered just twenty minutes ago he was downstairs all alone in his chambers. It was just him and his firewhiskey. It was just him and his empty chambers. Him and his snow covered window. He looked up from the broken glass on the floor to Hermione's smiling face. He knew what he would wish for. He took a deep breath and blew out the sparkling candles, receiving applause from the room full of people. He gave a half smile and slunk into an empty chair as Flitwick charmed the cake into slices for everyone, and sent them flying to empty hands.

A glittering green piece of cake skidded to a halt in front of Severus and he looked down at the silver letters on top which were half of a 'd" and 'v'. It was his own cake, yet he couldn't bring himself to eat it. He immediately found himself wishing he hadn't dropped his firewhiskey.

"It's extraordinary how fast time goes by," McGonagall said from her seat beside Snape, taking a bite of cake.

"Indeed Minerva," Dumbledore said, shoving a rather large chunk of cake into his mouth. "I was forty just one hundred and twenty years ago. Amazing how time flies."

McGonagall turned toward Severus, smiling happily. "I remember the day you first came to Hogwarts."

Snape grunted, stuffing a piece of overly sweet cake into his mouth so he wouldn't have to talk.

"You were so small," McGonagall continued. "Your mother had made an appointment to see Albus and I, letting us know you sometimes had nightmares and to keep a close watch on you."

Severus felt his cheeks grow hot as the staff around him snickered at Minerva's story.

"Oh heavens, Severus, do you remember that stuffed animal you used to carry around?" McGonagall smiled, taking a sip of tea.

"No." Snape snapped, jabbing his cake with his fork.

"Oh yea!" Hagrid said from across the table. "A ruddy stuffed bat. Used ter call it 'Perseus' right?"

"Oh Severus, there is no need to be embarrassed you were just eleven and had never been away from home," McGonagall said.

"No matter, I caught him a real bat straight from the forest in 'is second year. Kept it in my cabin for 'im. Remember that, Professor?" Hagrid said, his dark eyes twinkling.

"Yes, Hagrid." Snape said shortly, wishing now more than ever for that glass of firewhiskey.

He turned to his right as Hermione sat down next to him, she was still smiling.

"It's you that I can thank for this party?" Snape glared at her, half listening to McGonagall regale the room with a story of how he once transfigured a lighter into a baby dragon.

"Well, I couldn't let your fortieth birthday go by unnoticed," Hermione said almost apologetically.

"How did you know today was my birthday?" he asked, raising a black eyebrow.

"It's in Hogwarts: A History. February Twenty-First, Nineteen Sixty," she smiled.

"Miss Granger, if I had known you were going to force ridiculous celebrations on the staff, I would have never allowed you to intern with me."

Hermione looked hurt for a moment and Severus immediately regretted saying that. Why should he let his misery ruin her good spirits? He wanted to apologize but he couldn't remember the right words to do that. Instead he settled on, "Did I get any presents?"

Hermione's expression brightened and she pointed to the table against the wall that was piled with a rainbow of gifts.

"Oh, Severus is going to open his gifts!" Flitwick squeaked and swished his wand so all the presents stacked themselves in a pile by Snape's side.

"Open mine firs'!" Hagrid called.

Snape reached up and took a present that was wrapped in brown paper and had a claw mark across the paper. He unwrapped it and found a pile of cookies as hard as bricks. "Thank you Hagrid." Snape said, pushing the cookies to the side.

"Mine next!" Sprout said cheerfully.

Snape grabbed the green wrapped package with a purple orchid stuck to the top. A set of vials with S.S. engraved onto them. He snatched a present wrapped in blue paper from Flitwick; a quill charmed to automatically write points deducted from each house on essays. Hermione's present was wrapped in crimson; it was an organizer that reminded him of appointments.

Thirty minutes later, he was surrounded by presents and the staff was talking animatedly among themselves once again. Hermione was listening to McGonagall tell everyone about "the time Severus met Moaning Myrtle for the first time".

Snape got up from his chair briefly hearing something about "_scarred for life_", and he walked over to the window. Snowflakes fluttered past as he looked down on the frozen lake in the February night.

"Did you have a nice birthday?" a voice came from behind him.

Severus turned around to face Hermione and looked at her with a bored expression. "If by nice birthday you mean I was drug from my work to eat overly sweet cake and to get gifts Ill never use, then yes, I suppose I did have a _'nice birthday'_".

Hermione looked at him for a moment, a grin tugging gently on the corner of her mouth. "Happy Birthday, Professor Snape," she said as she turned away to join the rest of the staff.

"Thank you, Miss Granger," Snape said quietly as he turned back and faced the window, hiding the smile on his face.

Did you like it? Please review. Thank you! J


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